More than 600 patients cared for each day

ST. LOUIS, May 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — When Jerry Frederiksen’s stepmother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, he knew end-of-life care was the next step, but he had no idea what that meant or what he needed to do.

Frederiksen, 70, of Rudy, Arkansas, said he moved her to his house, and Mercy’s hospice care responded immediately.

“We called, and it was absolutely amazing,” he said. “They sent someone out to evaluate the situation and asked what we needed. We hadn’t been through that situation before. That same day, we had a hospital bed delivered along with everything else we needed. They sent a nurse out, took care of the medications and explained to us how to keep my stepmother comfortable. Mercy Hospice made life tolerable.”

Frederiksen is one of thousands of family members of hospice patients entrusted to Mercy’s care. Mercy’s hospice program provides for the medical needs of the patient, along with spiritual care and critical support for their loved ones experiencing loss.

“Family members aren’t trained for moments like this, but Mercy’s team is,” Frederiksen said. “They just make everything so much easier. There’s so much that is unknown, and they guide you through all of it. They’re the experts. They’re the ones that, if you need someone to talk to, they’re there. They’ll even send the chaplains out so you can talk to them. There’s just so much relief they provide while you’re in doubt, worry and fear of the unknown. They take all of that away. They really have your back.”

Mercy Hospice serves in several Missouri communities: Cape Girardeau, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Louis, St. Louis South and Washington, as well as Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Oklahoma City. In 2025 alone, Mercy’s hospice program totaled more than 200 million total days of patient care across those communities. On an average day, 600 patients receive care from Mercy Hospice.

“End-of-life care is one of the more challenging aspects of healthcare,” said Helen Cassidy, executive director of hospice at Mercy. “It touches not only the patient but every one of their loved ones. Hospice care aims to take some of the worst moments any of us experience and make them as dignified as possible. From the first moment the work begins to contacting the appropriate agency to transport the deceased, the main goal is support.”

Often, family members of hospice patients are so touched by the medical, emotional and spiritual support they receive that they decide to become hospice volunteers. Volunteer tasks are often as simple as offering a family member peace of mind by sitting with the patient and assisting them with whatever tasks they’re unable to complete.

For Frederiksen, the need to use the service has returned – his 92-year-old father has been experiencing serious health issues.

A nurse visits once a week to ensure his medical care is proceeding appropriately. Frederiksen said his father was initially skeptical of exploring an assisted living facility, but Mercy Hospice has been able to open his mind to the possibility of living somewhere he would have additional support.

“In healthcare, our goal is to help people live the kind of life they want to live,” Cassidy said. “That can mean an athlete getting back on the field or someone with a heart condition returning to daily activities without pain or symptoms. There’s no reason we can’t have the same goal for people approaching the end of their lives. We want to help these patients and their families live full lives for every moment they can.”  

Mercy, one of the 15 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation’s largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including 55 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 1,000 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 5,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 50,000 caregivers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2025 alone, Mercy provided more than half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medicaid. 

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SOURCE Mercy